ANTIGONISH: Special legislation will not be introduced in the spring sitting of the Nova Scotia Legislature to consolidate the Town of Antigonish and the Municipality of the County of Antigonish.
Late in the evening on March 24, The Reporter was forwarded an email that was sent to Antigonish town councillors at 4:34 p.m. by Chief Administration Officer (CAO) Jeff Lawrence, noting that both Mayor Laurie Boucher and Warden Owen McCarron met with the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, and his staff.
“During that meeting, the minister stated the province has made the decision to not present the special legislation to the House of Assembly,” Lawrence’s email read. “If more information becomes available, we will ensure it gets shared with council and staff.”
Even though requests were made to both the town and county in the morning it wasn’t until 4:37 p.m. on March 27, The Reporter finally got a response.
“Thank you for reaching out for comment from Mayor Boucher and Warden McCarron regarding the special legislation on consolidation,” Shirlyn Donovan, strategic initiatives coordinator with the county said in a written response. “At this time we have no update, as we are still gathering information.”
Despite initially being labeled as a small group of dissidents, Let Antigonish Decide, a grassroots community group opposing the consolidation process and calling for a community vote grew to 1,690 active members on Facebook, hosted numerous community meetings, put up campaign-style lawn signs, collected signatures for a petition, and launched a challenge with the Nova Scotia Supreme Court.
While they’re happy to hear to hear the special legislation won’t be introduced during the spring sitting, Anne-Marie Long, one of three plaintiffs named on the litigation against the Municipality of the County of Antigonish, told The Reporter they just want to hear a final verdict.
“I’m hoping they’re going to say that it’s over, I know it’s not in the spring agenda, that was clear in the message Jeff Lawrence and Glenn Horne sent to their respective councils late-Friday afternoon,” Long said. “But they don’t say if it’s just off the spring agenda, or off completely. That’s why we’re all waiting with baited breath.”
Recently, a telephone poll commissioned by the group and conducted by Mainstreet Research found that 70.4 per cent of respondents believed the matter should go to a public vote, while 75.5 per cent indicated they would be less likely to vote for a politician who supported consolidation in the next municipal election
“I was really taken aback when the province said the court case wouldn’t have any impact on their decision,” Long said. “I have never seen that happen before. Normally when there’s a court case, that stops all action.”
When asked what’s next for Let Antigonish Decide, with consolidation not being presented during the spring legislature, she advised there are a few logistical items that need to be taken care of before they think about dropping their litigation.
“I think what would happen in the sequence of events coming, in the October 2024 election, it would end up being a platform issue,” Long said. “Before we elected councillors, I think both the town and the county residents would be asking the questions about consolidation and a public vote.”
She suggested it’s important to know if it’s just off the spring agenda, or completely off the agenda altogether.
“If they don’t take it off the agenda, we will continue to pursue it,” Long said. “They saw this as a slam dunk early, and they knew they had the votes for Oct. 20, I think they just thought they had a clear run now, and they were going to have the consultants create a template for the rest of the province.”
In a post to the Let Antigonish Decide Facebook group on March 26, Alicia Vink, another plaintiff named on the litigation, suggested the group was instrumental in being the voice of citizens and soliciting funds to cover the cost of their legal bills.
“A big thanks to Anne-Marie Long, Coline Morrow, and Jack Sullivan for the leadership role they assumed. Thanks for the countless volunteer hours they spent doing research and for the insightful presentations they gave at the many meetings scheduled throughout the town and county,” Vink wrote. “They made every effort to ensure citizens were heard and they received the information available. Thanks to them citizens knew they had the right to vote to either accept or reject consolidation.”
Long still believes the consolidation idea was brought forth to the councils by the Department of Municipal Affairs and Housing, and if it wasn’t for Let Antigonish Decide and the extra-curricular activities taken, the process would have followed the narrative through the House of Assembly.
“Owen said on CBC yesterday, ‘We worked with Municipal Affairs throughout the course of the engagement sessions and making sure we weren’t out of step,’ and that was the first real acknowledgment that he has made that it was being driven by Municipal Affairs,” she said. “They are so disappointed; I think both Owen and Laurie are both taken aback by the decision. I’m confident they were given assurances, from the way they spoke in all their press releases, they were confident it was going on the table in the spring agenda.”
Thinking on how everything unfolded, Long indicated the mayor and the warden, clearly and deliberately abused their offices to get something to accommodate their desire to go down in Antigonish history.
“This does not have a bearing on how we will continue to operate,” Lawrence said in his March 24, email. “The town and county will maintain the status-quo and continue to work together on our joint initiatives for the benefit of the greater community.”